Post by 85t5mcss on May 22, 2011 15:43:41 GMT -5
First off-no body damage!
5-20-2011 I was at IRP with the Monte for a track day on the road course and some Auto-X'ing on Friday and Saturday.
Brief rundown:Serious cramming to get the car ready, some things forgotten. I'll get to this later. I had swapped engines in February and never got the car running until here recently.
Friday morning I drove to the track, even on the interstate, and all was good. The first session was a ride along with an instructor who is insane and I can't believe the car stuck the way it did.
2nd session was in the Monte with an instructor riding along. 20 minute session that I almost made it through. Everything was going decent other than I developed a slight vibration, full tread street tires got greasy, and I couldn't turn the corners real well. But, coming to last turn before the White Flag I lost the power steering and made it through the turn and took the flag before pulling off track. Didn't wanna be in the way of anyone else. After track was clear I checked the belt and it was still intact, fired it up to drive back to the pits and the clutch pedal was rock hard. Hydrolocked the clutch slave. Parked it in the pits but power steering cooled enough that it was working again.
Added some power steering fluid and a quart of oil and was ready for the next session even with a stiff clutch. I was still able to shift.
Start the next session and got on the front stretch which is over 100MPH and the small vibration is noticeably worse. Bad enough that the instructor asks if I have a driveshaft safety loop on the car (I do). But with every shift the clutch is getting worse and starting having trouble getting into gear. Time to head back to the pits. Weekend is over.
What I did find out is that I forgot to redo the front alignment after the engine swap which added weight to the nose, I had overworked/overheated the clutch fluid, developed a nasty driveline vibration, got a good exhaust leak at the header, and 3000lbs. + on a full tread street tire doesn't work real well. Greasy and VERY tailhappy and tried to steer itself sideways into the wall on a couple different occasions. I never even had a chance to push the car real hard or to experience what the brakes can do. But overall was a very enjoyable weekend. Other than the disappointment of the road course woes.
Good news is the car is completely capable of running over 100MPH with no problems. ;D
Edit: Forgot to mention the front needs stiffer springs, shocks softened a couple clicks, and bigger front and rear sway bars. That and the slicks I had would have helped but just didn't fit the car. Close, but wouldn't do it.
5-20-2011 I was at IRP with the Monte for a track day on the road course and some Auto-X'ing on Friday and Saturday.
Brief rundown:Serious cramming to get the car ready, some things forgotten. I'll get to this later. I had swapped engines in February and never got the car running until here recently.
Friday morning I drove to the track, even on the interstate, and all was good. The first session was a ride along with an instructor who is insane and I can't believe the car stuck the way it did.
2nd session was in the Monte with an instructor riding along. 20 minute session that I almost made it through. Everything was going decent other than I developed a slight vibration, full tread street tires got greasy, and I couldn't turn the corners real well. But, coming to last turn before the White Flag I lost the power steering and made it through the turn and took the flag before pulling off track. Didn't wanna be in the way of anyone else. After track was clear I checked the belt and it was still intact, fired it up to drive back to the pits and the clutch pedal was rock hard. Hydrolocked the clutch slave. Parked it in the pits but power steering cooled enough that it was working again.
Added some power steering fluid and a quart of oil and was ready for the next session even with a stiff clutch. I was still able to shift.
Start the next session and got on the front stretch which is over 100MPH and the small vibration is noticeably worse. Bad enough that the instructor asks if I have a driveshaft safety loop on the car (I do). But with every shift the clutch is getting worse and starting having trouble getting into gear. Time to head back to the pits. Weekend is over.
What I did find out is that I forgot to redo the front alignment after the engine swap which added weight to the nose, I had overworked/overheated the clutch fluid, developed a nasty driveline vibration, got a good exhaust leak at the header, and 3000lbs. + on a full tread street tire doesn't work real well. Greasy and VERY tailhappy and tried to steer itself sideways into the wall on a couple different occasions. I never even had a chance to push the car real hard or to experience what the brakes can do. But overall was a very enjoyable weekend. Other than the disappointment of the road course woes.
Good news is the car is completely capable of running over 100MPH with no problems. ;D
Edit: Forgot to mention the front needs stiffer springs, shocks softened a couple clicks, and bigger front and rear sway bars. That and the slicks I had would have helped but just didn't fit the car. Close, but wouldn't do it.
